Model of a Temple Gateway New KingdomHeliopolis, Egypt
Description
Object Label: Although this model was found at Tell el Yahudiya in the Nile Delta, the inscriptions along its base suggest that King Seti I donated it to a now-lost temple at Heliopolis, the center of the solar cult, just outside modern Cairo. Why it was deposited at Tell el Yahudiya is a mystery. As seen in the photograph here, the model was once replete with a pylon (or gateway), flagpoles, statues of Seti I in the guise of Osiris (ruler of the underworld), and four sphinxes flanking the entrance staircase. The reliefs around the base show the king nearly prostrate, making offerings to three forms of the sun: Khepri (the sun rising in the morning), Re-Horakhty (the sun at its zenith at noon), and Atum (the sun setting in the evening). The purpose of the model is unclear. Although it is generally regarded as a foundation deposit or offering given by the king at the groundbreaking for the temple it represents, it may have served a magical purpose. A reconstruction of this model can be seen in the installation Temples, Tombs, and the Egyptian Universe. Caption: Model of a Temple Gateway, ca. 1290–1279 B.C.E.. Quartzite, 9 1/2 x 44 x 34 in., 1025 lb. (24.1 x 111.8 x 86.4 cm, 464.9kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.183. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
A machine reading of the photograph made Jul 2026: deities, names, signs and a description as the model saw them. Not curatorial; treat it as the model's best reading, not authority.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 49.183 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3543 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.